Lee Ryder's big match verdict: Most fitting of finales to a tour steeped in emotion

Magpies sign off New Zealand tour with 1-0 win over hosts but memories remain with John Alder and Liam Sweeney

Newcastle United players face a haka before the match against Wellington Phoenix

The memories of John Alder and Liam Sweeney illuminated the way for Newcastle United in New Zealand during one of the darkest weeks in the history of the club.

From Dunedin to Wellington and all the stops along the way, there was plenty of time for thoughts and reflections on their devastating passings on the way to the Football United Tour and how fortunate the Magpies were to have such loyal supporters.

Both epitomised the meaning of being a football fan venturing to the other end of the planet just to cheer their heroes on.

With the images of both super-fans displayed on the screen before the clash with Wellington Phoenix, emotions were running high ahead of the last stop of United’s tour of New Zealand.

There was barely a dry eye in the house for the fans of United, West Ham, Sydney and the hosts Phoenix as the Maori tribe performed a traditional Waiata in the middle of the pitch.

As the voices of the tribe rose into the cool winter air at the Westpac Stadium, thoughts were again with the families of both men after an enormous show of strength from their closer connections.

Newcastle will this week get to work on a permanent memorial for the pair.

Saturday night in Wellington offered another victory to send the Australasia Toon Army home happy.

The Magpies have made the best of their time down under.

Two victories in Dunedin and Wellington may well have been against A-League opponents.

Yet Sydney and Phoenix tried hard to claim a notable scalp.

In the end Sydney, whose boss Graham Arnold felt performed better against Newcastle than they did in Saturday’s win over West Ham, and the Phoenix fell short.

Yet had it not been for the brilliance of both goalkeepers it could have been a very different result to the single goal scoreline.

Alan Pardew – who kept media interviews to a minimum in New Zealand – toyed with a 3-5-2 system against Phoenix.

He said after the game it was “designed” to bring the best out of Siem de Jong.

However, that tactic sheet was soon ripped up as De Jong found himself injured after a frustrating week in New Zealand which has included two injuries to his foot.

Both Rolando Aarons and Mehdi Abeid were also hurt in front of a crowd of over 30,000 at the Westpac too.

The Magpies finished the game with 10 men after using all of their outfield substitutes.

By that time they had established a 1-0 lead handed to them by Yoan Gouffran, who netted a looping header just three minutes before the break.

It could have been a greater advantage for United had it not been for Wellington shotstopper Glenn Moss.

Before Gouffran’s opener – served by Vurnon Anita and Jack Colback’s fine work on the left – Moss had pulled off a stunning save to deny the Frenchman before keeping out Ayoze Perez with a fine block as Newcastle cranked up the pressure in the first half.

They should have doubled that lead when Colback – who was otherwise very impressive – had a chance right in front of goal before being tackled at the last second after Perez’s cut back.

United continued to create chances after the break when Gouffran headed over Massaido Haidara’s cross on 48 minutes. Wellington, though, were not finished and had it not been for Elliot’s two superb saves to twice deny Jeremy Brockie Phoenix could have been talking about an even more respectable result.

Perez and Gouffran had late chances in the game but it soon petered out into a substitution friendly – to the point where Newcastle ran short of replacements.

Pardew did think about the idea of throwing on teenage reserve goalkeeper Freddie Woodman but opted to see the game out with 10 men instead.

So, Newcastle head home from New Zealand having been touched by the kindness and love of their host and having engaged with their fanbase down under.

They will resume the rest of pre-season knowing they still have work to do in the transfer market. However, Perez, Manu Riviera, de Jong and Colback have all integrated well thus far.

With Remy Cabella and Daryl Janmaat to add to the mix plus another new face there could be room for optimism if Pardew can continue his highwire act of balancing keeping the crowd onside and dealing with the politics which come with his tough job.

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